Franklin Torres had been paying off his bank loans regularly. But on July 19, while he was in Ecuador visiting his family, he received notification that Flushing Savings Bank was foreclosing his property and placing it on auction the following day.
Torres, who had made around $430,000 in mortgage payments for his property as of June, was among a group of approximately 20 Queens residents who staged a demonstration Monday outside the Forest Hills branch of Flushing Savings Bank, accusing it of "corrupt and predatory practices," including improper foreclosures. The group staged a similar protest outside a branch in Flushing a week earlier.
The newly formed group, Queens Residents Against Flushing Savings Bank, chanted slogans like "Give us our homes back," held large placards, blew party blowers, and handed out leaflets to passersby to warn and identify residents who have been negatively impacted by the bank's alleged bad faith practices.
Flushing Savings said in an emailed statement that it "does not respond publicly to comments regarding its customers or their relationships."
"As a federally chartered savings bank, we comply with all applicable laws and regulations including the Equal Credit Opportunity Act and Fair Lending practices," the statement read. "Flushing Savings Bank makes every reasonable effort available to establish workout plans to help borrowers avoid the foreclosure process and maintain ownership of their property."
In June, state Attorney General Eric Schneiderman proposed new legislation, the Foreclosure Fraud Prevention Act, which would impose tough new criminal penalties that include jail time for those who knowingly authorize, prepare, execute or offer for filing false documents in a pending or prospective residential foreclosure action.
ONLY CHILD AERIAL THEATRE: ASYLUM | USA
ASYLUM, a theatre piece performed
largely in the air, examines the forgotten lives of 6 patients and employees in
a state mental institution that was shuttered in the 1970s. The story is told
using aerial acrobatics, live music, projection, and shadow work and features a
song composed for this production by Grammy nominee Sophie B. Hawkins.
BOOM CIRCUS |
ITALY/US
BOOM! breathes
new life into the ancient tradition of masked theater, full of spontaneous
improvisations with the public, heart-touching drama, impossible skills and
hilarious moments of sheer humanity. Peter Sweet and David Poznanter portray a
cast of 6 characters who put on an entire circus, complete with slackrope, Cyr
Wheel, juggling and live music. Family friendly, indoor/outdoor.
SATURDAY | MARCH 4
RACEHORSE
COMPANY: DISCO 3000 | FINLAND
ALMANAC:
LEAPS OF FAITH | USA
Philadelphia’s
genre-defying Almanac Dance Circus Theatre presents Leaps of Faith and Other Mistakes an
absurd and intimate tapestry of sublime human idiocy, isolationist seafarer
cults, and the kinds of people that devote their lives to becoming acrobats.
Four hobbyists find each other alone in a world of weirdos, and push themselves
to be “exceptional in every moment.” As they purify themselves and adopt an
all-white uniform, their trusty sofa becomes a portal for exploration and they
set out on the high-seas to leave the world of fast-food and normal people
behind. But all is not as they imagined it would be, and the audience is left
contemplating what we do when we find ourselves lost at sea.
SUNDAY | MARCH 5
NACHO
FLORES: TESSERACT | FRANCE
After 10
years of work on the tight wire, Nacho Flores turns
fully towards balancing on wooden cubes, a new technique devised by Nacho after
three years of intensive research. A circus technique hitherto unknown, that
makes us enjoy its visual quality, while maintaining the audience in maximum
tension with the impossible balancing. The show takes us into a world where
both the objects and the actor have to constantly fight with gravity. A real
attack on Newton. If Newton had seen the show it would have taken him 10 more
years to arrive at his theory (unless a cube would have fallen on his head).
Tesseract gives a sense to the purest meaning of circus arts: to transform the
ordinary into the extraordinary.
Presented
in association with the Tilt Kids Festival, a production of the French
Institute Alliance Française (FIAF) and the Cultural Services of the French
Embassy.
RACEHORSE
COMPANY: DISCO 3000 | FINLAND
Their
physical and raw contemporary circus performances are based on aesthetics of
chaos, humour and surprise. A Jeunes Talentes Cirque Europe laureate 2010 and
Best Performance winner 2013 at the International Theatre and Street Arts
Festival in Valladolid Spain, Race Horse Company approaches circus without
questioning, leaving philosophy to the spectators. Their upcoming work 'Disco
3000' looks at the superstar culture of modern performance art and laughs at
the phenomenon through acrobatic clownery. The irreverent and dark-hued
performance is infused with black humor and thrills the audience with razor
sharp circus skills.
Evening
performances may contain adult themes. The performance on March 5th at 2 p.m.
is a family-friendly performance.
BEYOND THE STAGE
.
MARCH 3, 2017 AT 6:00 PM
.
PRE-SHOW PANEL DISCUSSION
Join us
for a Pre-Show Panel Discussion on Global Models of Circus Training and Funding
A discussion of the various circus training methods and funding models from
three countries as examples: Canada (Quebec), Finland, and France. Each country
has a long history of artistic innovation and support of circus. The panel will
share aspects of the infrastructure and government/cultural assistance that has
helped circus thrive. These models may offer learning opportunities for the
audience as circus continues to evolve and gain momentum among youth in the
United States.
Panelists:
Nadia Drouin - la TOHU, Hélène Métailié - La Grainerie, Lotta Nevalainen -
CircusInfo Finland; Moderator: Adam Woolley, Circus Now Managing Director.
This
event will take place in the lower lobby.
MARCH 5, 2017 AT 1:00 PM
.
PRE-SHOW LOBBY ACTIVITY
Join us
in the hour before the show for family friendly activities! Children will
learn basic circus techniques, such as juggling scarves and balancing objects,
taught by professional teaching artists from Brooklyn Beanstalk.
CIRCUS NOW IS MADE POSSIBLE IN PART WITH SUPPORT FROM CON EDISON FOR
FAMILY EDUCATIONAL AND ENRICHMENT PROGRAMMING, FROM THE ITALIAN CULTURAL
INSTITUTE AND THE CONSULATE GENERAL OF FINLAND IN NEW YORK.
THANK YOU TO NYU SKIRBALL'S 2017 CIRCUS PARTNERS
and AERIAL ARTS NYC
Exhibition Overview
Lygia Pape: A Multitude of Forms is the first monographic exhibition in the United States devoted
to Brazilian artist Lygia Pape (1927–2004). A critical figure in the
development of Brazilian modern art, Pape combined geometric abstraction with
notions of body, time, and space in unique ways that radically transformed the
nature of the art object in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Covering a
prolific, unclassifiable career that spanned five decades, this exhibition will
examine Pape's extraordinarily rich oeuvre as manifest across varied media—from
sculpture, prints, and painting to installation, photography, performance, and
film.
#LygiaPape
#MetBreuer
Accompanied by a catalogue
The exhibition is made possible by The Daniel and
Estrellita Brodsky Foundation and The Garcia Family Foundation.
It is organized by The Metropolitan Museum of Art
in collaboration with Projeto Lygia Pape.
MORE INFORMATION: http://www.as-coa.org/events/book-presentation-ciudades-de-am%C3%A9rica-collection-americas-society-680-park-avenue
·
Americas Society
680 Park
Avenue
New York, NY
March 28, 2017
7 p.m.
Free admission. Prior registration is required.
Join coeditors Erica Roberts and Facundo de Zuviría, along with curator
Gabriela Rangel, for a conversation on the book series Ciudades de
América (R&Z Editores), moderated by independent editor Donna
Wingate. The series consists of four volumes dedicated to Buenos Aires,
Montevideo, Cartagena de Indias, and Rio de Janeiro. Each book features
photographs by de Zuviría that focus on the city landscapes, interior spaces,
and textures and colors. Interspersed with the images are texts by such
recognized writers as Gabriel García Márquez, Eduardo Galeano, Jorge Luis
Borges, Julio Cortázar, and Vinicius de Moraes, among others. Presenting a
local perspective rather a tourist’s viewpoint, Ciudades de América provides
an intimate view of these emblematic Latin American cities.
Event
Information: Veronica Flom
| vflom@as-coa.org |
1-212-277-8367
Press
Inquiries: Adriana La Rotta
| alarotta@as-coa.org | 1-212-277-8384
Image: Cover of
“Rio de Janeiro” in the Ciudades de América series
(2017).
Event Funders
The exhibition Facundo de Zuviría: Siesta
Argentina and other modest observations is made possible, in part, by
public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in
partnership with the City Council, and by the generous support of Genomma Lab
Internacional, the Neuss Fund, Erica Roberts, Isabella Hutchinson, the Sistema
Federal de Medios y Contenidos Públicos de la Nación Argentina, the Consulado
General y Centro de Promoción de la República Argentina en Nueva York, and
anonymous donors.
MUSIC
What: Os Mutantes
Where: Trocadero Theater (Philadelphia) / Webster Hall New York (The Marlin Room)
When: February 26 (Philadelphia) and 27 (New York)
What: Os Mutantes
Where: Trocadero Theater (Philadelphia) / Webster Hall New York (The Marlin Room)
When: February 26 (Philadelphia) and 27 (New York)
OS MUTANTES
OS MUTANTES:
When the members of the legendary “Tropicália” band Os Mutantes took the stage before an audience of thousands at the Hollywood bowl a few years back, it seemed one of the greatest secrets in modern music was finally out. The seminal band whose ethereal absurdist pop music had inspired so many prominent musicians since their breakup decades before, were back. This time the world seemed ready. Now this influential band has reemerged with a brand new much anticipated album entitled Haih or Amortecedor on Anti-records.
Those who have not heard the music of Os Mutantes have undoubtedly experienced their influence. During the band’s absence, their records have been passed from musician to musician like cherished gifts, ever inspiring and altering the contemporary musical landscape. Kurt Cobain of Nirvana was tipped to the band by members of the band Red Kross. When Nirvana toured Brazil in 1993, Cobain tried desperately to arrange a meeting with Mutante bassist and singer Arnaldo Baptista. Unable to locate the musician he sent him the following note. “Arnaldo, best wishes to you, and be careful with the system. They swallow you up and spit you out like a maraschino cherry pit.”
The Mutantes’ cut-and-paste, sonic collage approach and their tendency for cultural irony, is an aesthetic now prevalent in modern music. The band has received praise from a growing list of luminaries including the Flaming Lips, David Byrne, Devendra Banhart and Of Montreal. But of any contemporary musician, it is Beck who appears their direct heir. For his part, Beck readily admits a longstanding admiration for the Mutantes, even dedicating his song “Tropicália” from the album Mutations to the band. As he explains, ''Hearing Os Mutantes for the first time was one of those revelatory moments you live for as a musician. When you find something that you have been wanting to hear for years but never thought existed. I made records like 'Odelay' because there was a certain sound and sensibility that I wanted to achieve, and it was eerie to find that they had already done it 30 years ago, in a totally shocking but beautiful and satisfying way. For years it was pretty much the only thing I listened to.”
This admiration by fellow artists is something Mutante founder and singer/guitarist, Sérgio Dias, appreciates. “I think it is really beautiful how our sound caught on with newer generations through the songs of Beck and others,” he explains. These kids were influenced by our music and started to talk to other kids and tell them. And then Beck made Mutations and he was so eloquent about that. I think it is a wonderful portrait of how things happen today.”
Mutantes’ unique otherworldly sound was forged in a time and place of turmoil. San Paulo Brazil of the early sixties was a city and nation under siege. The military had seized power and the authorities were coming down hard on anything resembling descent. It was amidst this precarious backdrop that, in 1964, two teenagers, Arnaldo Baptista and Rita Lee Jones met at a high school band contest. Inspired by a Revolver era Beatles, the two soon drafted Arnaldo’s brother Sergio and formed what would become Os Mutantes.
Soon the band, along with other forward-looking musicians, writers and artists, were taking part in lively discussions that would eventually evolve into a culturally defining movement. With elements of political criticism, prankster humor and an eclectic range of musical styles, Tropicália was born. “In Brazil we were influenced by things like the Beatles and Picasso,” Dias explains. “But we didn’t know what the Beatles were singing about and we didn’t know the history of Picasso. We were in the middle of a very bad situation and we were responding to all of this. We only had bits and pieces of everything and so we formed this image of what rock and roll was supposed to be. Our music is like a patchwork quilt made up of all these different pieces from different places. We put all these elements together and just let them cook in this witches brew and that became our sound.”
It was during Tropicália’s start that the Mutantes recorded their self-titled debut album. As students battled the police and military, the Mutantes recorded an ambitious album merging seductive Brazilian music with the new psychedelic pop of the Beatles and Beach Boys. The end result didn’t so much take a direct political stand as offer a complete aesthetic rejection of the harsh reality surrounding them.
The ruling generals soon regarded the Mutantes as musical emissaries of an emerging counter culture steeped in sex, drugs and rock ’n’ roll, and the group’s performances began to get raided. The Mutantes, for their part, seemed to delight in their role as cultural provocateurs: with Dias performing in a Napoleonic military uniform, his brother Baptista in a priest’s cassock and singer Rita Lee appearing in a bridal gown. “Many people were being arrested by the government at that time,” Dias explains. “So we fought back the only way that we knew. They would try to censor our lyrics. But instead of changing the words we would put all sorts of strange noises on top of them. I don’t think they knew how much we were making fun of them.”
By 1969, when the band’s third album “A Divina Comédia ou Ando Meio Desiglado” was recorded, Brazil’s political situation had only further deteriorated. A governmental edict called as AI 5 (Institutional Act 5) resulted in the persecution of intellectuals, artists and activists, the closing of the congress and countless arrests. The crack down was the beginning of the end for the Tropicália movement. Giberto Gil and Caetano Veloso, close friends of the Mutantes and two of the leading forces of Tropicalia, were arrested and exiled. Despite this the Mutantes had their biggest hit with the song “Ando Meio Desiglado”. Propelled by a rocking Motown inspired bass line, the lyrics offered a forthright description of the effects of marijuana. On another song “Desculpe, Babe,” Sérgio’s voice was distorted through a rubber hose connected to a hot chocolate can with a tiny speaker inside, as he sung over melodic Beatlesque guitars.
While performing in Paris, the band recorded an album for Polydor UK. The record was intended to introduce the band to a broader western audience and featured many of their previously recorded songs sung in English. The masters from the session were subsequently lost and the album, “Technicolor,” wouldn’t resurface for nearly three decades. Singer Rita Lee soon left the band to pursue a solo career and eventually it was only leader Sérgio Dias, leading the band until they finally disbanded in 1978.
But in the band’s absence, Mutantes’ standing amongst the rock cognoscente only intensified. In 2000, the lost 1971 album “Technicolor” was located and released to a near euphoric critical response. In 2006 the band finally reunited and performed at London’s Barbican Arts Center. This was followed by triumphant shows throughout North America and the Mutantes being awarded the Brazilian equivalent of a Grammy for best band. “Playing live with this band is so amazing,” Dias says. “I can not describe anything better than maybe going into space. When we were playing at the Pitchfork Festival it was like looking at yourself when you were a kid trying to mumble the words to “I Wanna Hold Your Hand” in English and not understanding the words. There were hardly any Brazilians there but the kids were all singing our songs in Portuguese. It was really beautiful.”
So this acclaimed band who inspired so much now prepares to release Haih or Amortecedor, their first new album in over three decades. On it Sergio Dias has collaborated with two of the founders of Tropicalia, renowned songwriter and multi instrumentalist Tom Ze and Jorge Ben who wrote the band’s first hit Minha Menina. But don’t expect anything like nostalgia from Haih or Amortecedor. The end result is a record that brilliantly updates the band’s legendary “Tropicalia” sound, propelling it out of the sixties and into an uncharted but undeniably exotic future. As expected, the songs utilize a startling assortment of instrumentation, from austere violins to distorted metallic guitars and something called a crazy flute, lending an underlying theatrical power to their genre defying music. The song Bagdad Blues, with its tinkering old piano and seductive horns, conjures an otherworldly cabaret while Querida Querida is modern rock music unlike anything you’ve heard before.“It would be awful to mimic something we had done when we were teenagers,” Dias explains. “When we were making this album we were absolutely vigilant that the ideas were entirely fresh and I think we did a very good job. Everyone who has heard this album say it doesn’t sound like Mutantes - but then it is also pure Mutantes. I really think it is a perfect vision of what Os Mutantes should sound like in the 21st century.”
When the members of the legendary “Tropicália” band Os Mutantes took the stage before an audience of thousands at the Hollywood bowl a few years back, it seemed one of the greatest secrets in modern music was finally out. The seminal band whose ethereal absurdist pop music had inspired so many prominent musicians since their breakup decades before, were back. This time the world seemed ready. Now this influential band has reemerged with a brand new much anticipated album entitled Haih or Amortecedor on Anti-records.
Those who have not heard the music of Os Mutantes have undoubtedly experienced their influence. During the band’s absence, their records have been passed from musician to musician like cherished gifts, ever inspiring and altering the contemporary musical landscape. Kurt Cobain of Nirvana was tipped to the band by members of the band Red Kross. When Nirvana toured Brazil in 1993, Cobain tried desperately to arrange a meeting with Mutante bassist and singer Arnaldo Baptista. Unable to locate the musician he sent him the following note. “Arnaldo, best wishes to you, and be careful with the system. They swallow you up and spit you out like a maraschino cherry pit.”
The Mutantes’ cut-and-paste, sonic collage approach and their tendency for cultural irony, is an aesthetic now prevalent in modern music. The band has received praise from a growing list of luminaries including the Flaming Lips, David Byrne, Devendra Banhart and Of Montreal. But of any contemporary musician, it is Beck who appears their direct heir. For his part, Beck readily admits a longstanding admiration for the Mutantes, even dedicating his song “Tropicália” from the album Mutations to the band. As he explains, ''Hearing Os Mutantes for the first time was one of those revelatory moments you live for as a musician. When you find something that you have been wanting to hear for years but never thought existed. I made records like 'Odelay' because there was a certain sound and sensibility that I wanted to achieve, and it was eerie to find that they had already done it 30 years ago, in a totally shocking but beautiful and satisfying way. For years it was pretty much the only thing I listened to.”
This admiration by fellow artists is something Mutante founder and singer/guitarist, Sérgio Dias, appreciates. “I think it is really beautiful how our sound caught on with newer generations through the songs of Beck and others,” he explains. These kids were influenced by our music and started to talk to other kids and tell them. And then Beck made Mutations and he was so eloquent about that. I think it is a wonderful portrait of how things happen today.”
Mutantes’ unique otherworldly sound was forged in a time and place of turmoil. San Paulo Brazil of the early sixties was a city and nation under siege. The military had seized power and the authorities were coming down hard on anything resembling descent. It was amidst this precarious backdrop that, in 1964, two teenagers, Arnaldo Baptista and Rita Lee Jones met at a high school band contest. Inspired by a Revolver era Beatles, the two soon drafted Arnaldo’s brother Sergio and formed what would become Os Mutantes.
Soon the band, along with other forward-looking musicians, writers and artists, were taking part in lively discussions that would eventually evolve into a culturally defining movement. With elements of political criticism, prankster humor and an eclectic range of musical styles, Tropicália was born. “In Brazil we were influenced by things like the Beatles and Picasso,” Dias explains. “But we didn’t know what the Beatles were singing about and we didn’t know the history of Picasso. We were in the middle of a very bad situation and we were responding to all of this. We only had bits and pieces of everything and so we formed this image of what rock and roll was supposed to be. Our music is like a patchwork quilt made up of all these different pieces from different places. We put all these elements together and just let them cook in this witches brew and that became our sound.”
It was during Tropicália’s start that the Mutantes recorded their self-titled debut album. As students battled the police and military, the Mutantes recorded an ambitious album merging seductive Brazilian music with the new psychedelic pop of the Beatles and Beach Boys. The end result didn’t so much take a direct political stand as offer a complete aesthetic rejection of the harsh reality surrounding them.
The ruling generals soon regarded the Mutantes as musical emissaries of an emerging counter culture steeped in sex, drugs and rock ’n’ roll, and the group’s performances began to get raided. The Mutantes, for their part, seemed to delight in their role as cultural provocateurs: with Dias performing in a Napoleonic military uniform, his brother Baptista in a priest’s cassock and singer Rita Lee appearing in a bridal gown. “Many people were being arrested by the government at that time,” Dias explains. “So we fought back the only way that we knew. They would try to censor our lyrics. But instead of changing the words we would put all sorts of strange noises on top of them. I don’t think they knew how much we were making fun of them.”
By 1969, when the band’s third album “A Divina Comédia ou Ando Meio Desiglado” was recorded, Brazil’s political situation had only further deteriorated. A governmental edict called as AI 5 (Institutional Act 5) resulted in the persecution of intellectuals, artists and activists, the closing of the congress and countless arrests. The crack down was the beginning of the end for the Tropicália movement. Giberto Gil and Caetano Veloso, close friends of the Mutantes and two of the leading forces of Tropicalia, were arrested and exiled. Despite this the Mutantes had their biggest hit with the song “Ando Meio Desiglado”. Propelled by a rocking Motown inspired bass line, the lyrics offered a forthright description of the effects of marijuana. On another song “Desculpe, Babe,” Sérgio’s voice was distorted through a rubber hose connected to a hot chocolate can with a tiny speaker inside, as he sung over melodic Beatlesque guitars.
While performing in Paris, the band recorded an album for Polydor UK. The record was intended to introduce the band to a broader western audience and featured many of their previously recorded songs sung in English. The masters from the session were subsequently lost and the album, “Technicolor,” wouldn’t resurface for nearly three decades. Singer Rita Lee soon left the band to pursue a solo career and eventually it was only leader Sérgio Dias, leading the band until they finally disbanded in 1978.
But in the band’s absence, Mutantes’ standing amongst the rock cognoscente only intensified. In 2000, the lost 1971 album “Technicolor” was located and released to a near euphoric critical response. In 2006 the band finally reunited and performed at London’s Barbican Arts Center. This was followed by triumphant shows throughout North America and the Mutantes being awarded the Brazilian equivalent of a Grammy for best band. “Playing live with this band is so amazing,” Dias says. “I can not describe anything better than maybe going into space. When we were playing at the Pitchfork Festival it was like looking at yourself when you were a kid trying to mumble the words to “I Wanna Hold Your Hand” in English and not understanding the words. There were hardly any Brazilians there but the kids were all singing our songs in Portuguese. It was really beautiful.”
So this acclaimed band who inspired so much now prepares to release Haih or Amortecedor, their first new album in over three decades. On it Sergio Dias has collaborated with two of the founders of Tropicalia, renowned songwriter and multi instrumentalist Tom Ze and Jorge Ben who wrote the band’s first hit Minha Menina. But don’t expect anything like nostalgia from Haih or Amortecedor. The end result is a record that brilliantly updates the band’s legendary “Tropicalia” sound, propelling it out of the sixties and into an uncharted but undeniably exotic future. As expected, the songs utilize a startling assortment of instrumentation, from austere violins to distorted metallic guitars and something called a crazy flute, lending an underlying theatrical power to their genre defying music. The song Bagdad Blues, with its tinkering old piano and seductive horns, conjures an otherworldly cabaret while Querida Querida is modern rock music unlike anything you’ve heard before.“It would be awful to mimic something we had done when we were teenagers,” Dias explains. “When we were making this album we were absolutely vigilant that the ideas were entirely fresh and I think we did a very good job. Everyone who has heard this album say it doesn’t sound like Mutantes - but then it is also pure Mutantes. I really think it is a perfect vision of what Os Mutantes should sound like in the 21st century.”
MITCH ESPARZA
Mitch Esparza (a.k.a: ME) is a Mexican-American singer/guitarist based out of Philadelphia. His performances generally vary greatly in genre from song to song given his eclectic tastes and musical styles. He's Leader of local psych-rockers, The Love Club, and member of experimental noise-punk group, Humanshapes. All that said his approach is pretty consistently raw and full of deep seeded energy regardless of the outfit he’s in. This performance will be one of his more meditative non-stop explorations of collective consciousness.
DJ PSILOSYBIN
Carlos Bonilla, AKA “LOS-A-MATIC,” “PsiLOSybin,”or simply “LOS” has been a consistent dj in Philadelphia for well over a decade, with an ever-growing vinyl collection based in the love of psychedelic rock.
He currently co-hosts the longest running dj night at Johnny Brenda’s, “Cities on Flame” (focusing on 70’s to modern proto-metal and heavy rock) and the bi-annual “Tropical Voodoo” night (AfroRock, Brazilian Beats, Latin Roots, Psych Grooves, Cosmic Soul), to name a few, as well as crafting dj sets around acts like Nick Turner’s Hawkwind, Kikagaku Moyo at Kung Fu Necktie, Fuzz at Underground Arts and many other heavy and heady bands around town.
Atlantis the Lost Bar, in Kensington, has been his testing grounds for well over ten years. You can find him there every second Tuesday of the month spinning his variety of 60’s psychedelia, 90’s shoegaze, krautrock, and blues-rock and also collaborating with the Riff Mountain DJ collective. His music knowledge, with the vinyl to back it up, is far, wide and deep.
Not only is LOS an avid record collector, but also a graphic designer and artist. You will find his love of music history embedded in the fliers, album covers and other work he creates.
LOS is globetrotting through his records. He is the messenger, sending out uplifting vibes to initiate escapism for these hard times.
He currently co-hosts the longest running dj night at Johnny Brenda’s, “Cities on Flame” (focusing on 70’s to modern proto-metal and heavy rock) and the bi-annual “Tropical Voodoo” night (AfroRock, Brazilian Beats, Latin Roots, Psych Grooves, Cosmic Soul), to name a few, as well as crafting dj sets around acts like Nick Turner’s Hawkwind, Kikagaku Moyo at Kung Fu Necktie, Fuzz at Underground Arts and many other heavy and heady bands around town.
Atlantis the Lost Bar, in Kensington, has been his testing grounds for well over ten years. You can find him there every second Tuesday of the month spinning his variety of 60’s psychedelia, 90’s shoegaze, krautrock, and blues-rock and also collaborating with the Riff Mountain DJ collective. His music knowledge, with the vinyl to back it up, is far, wide and deep.
Not only is LOS an avid record collector, but also a graphic designer and artist. You will find his love of music history embedded in the fliers, album covers and other work he creates.
LOS is globetrotting through his records. He is the messenger, sending out uplifting vibes to initiate escapism for these hard times.
S MUTANTES
OS MUTANTES:
When the members of the legendary “Tropicália” band Os Mutantes took the stage before an audience of thousands at the Hollywood bowl a few years back, it seemed one of the greatest secrets in modern music was finally out. The seminal band whose ethereal absurdist pop music had inspired so many prominent musicians since their breakup decades before, were back. This time the world seemed ready. Now this influential band has reemerged with a brand new much anticipated album entitled Haih or Amortecedor on Anti-records.
Those who have not heard the music of Os Mutantes have undoubtedly experienced their influence. During the band’s absence, their records have been passed from musician to musician like cherished gifts, ever inspiring and altering the contemporary musical landscape. Kurt Cobain of Nirvana was tipped to the band by members of the band Red Kross. When Nirvana toured Brazil in 1993, Cobain tried desperately to arrange a meeting with Mutante bassist and singer Arnaldo Baptista. Unable to locate the musician he sent him the following note. “Arnaldo, best wishes to you, and be careful with the system. They swallow you up and spit you out like a maraschino cherry pit.”
The Mutantes’ cut-and-paste, sonic collage approach and their tendency for cultural irony, is an aesthetic now prevalent in modern music. The band has received praise from a growing list of luminaries including the Flaming Lips, David Byrne, Devendra Banhart and Of Montreal. But of any contemporary musician, it is Beck who appears their direct heir. For his part, Beck readily admits a longstanding admiration for the Mutantes, even dedicating his song “Tropicália” from the album Mutations to the band. As he explains, ''Hearing Os Mutantes for the first time was one of those revelatory moments you live for as a musician. When you find something that you have been wanting to hear for years but never thought existed. I made records like 'Odelay' because there was a certain sound and sensibility that I wanted to achieve, and it was eerie to find that they had already done it 30 years ago, in a totally shocking but beautiful and satisfying way. For years it was pretty much the only thing I listened to.”
This admiration by fellow artists is something Mutante founder and singer/guitarist, Sérgio Dias, appreciates. “I think it is really beautiful how our sound caught on with newer generations through the songs of Beck and others,” he explains. These kids were influenced by our music and started to talk to other kids and tell them. And then Beck made Mutations and he was so eloquent about that. I think it is a wonderful portrait of how things happen today.”
Mutantes’ unique otherworldly sound was forged in a time and place of turmoil. San Paulo Brazil of the early sixties was a city and nation under siege. The military had seized power and the authorities were coming down hard on anything resembling descent. It was amidst this precarious backdrop that, in 1964, two teenagers, Arnaldo Baptista and Rita Lee Jones met at a high school band contest. Inspired by a Revolver era Beatles, the two soon drafted Arnaldo’s brother Sergio and formed what would become Os Mutantes.
Soon the band, along with other forward-looking musicians, writers and artists, were taking part in lively discussions that would eventually evolve into a culturally defining movement. With elements of political criticism, prankster humor and an eclectic range of musical styles, Tropicália was born. “In Brazil we were influenced by things like the Beatles and Picasso,” Dias explains. “But we didn’t know what the Beatles were singing about and we didn’t know the history of Picasso. We were in the middle of a very bad situation and we were responding to all of this. We only had bits and pieces of everything and so we formed this image of what rock and roll was supposed to be. Our music is like a patchwork quilt made up of all these different pieces from different places. We put all these elements together and just let them cook in this witches brew and that became our sound.”
It was during Tropicália’s start that the Mutantes recorded their self-titled debut album. As students battled the police and military, the Mutantes recorded an ambitious album merging seductive Brazilian music with the new psychedelic pop of the Beatles and Beach Boys. The end result didn’t so much take a direct political stand as offer a complete aesthetic rejection of the harsh reality surrounding them.
The ruling generals soon regarded the Mutantes as musical emissaries of an emerging counter culture steeped in sex, drugs and rock ’n’ roll, and the group’s performances began to get raided. The Mutantes, for their part, seemed to delight in their role as cultural provocateurs: with Dias performing in a Napoleonic military uniform, his brother Baptista in a priest’s cassock and singer Rita Lee appearing in a bridal gown. “Many people were being arrested by the government at that time,” Dias explains. “So we fought back the only way that we knew. They would try to censor our lyrics. But instead of changing the words we would put all sorts of strange noises on top of them. I don’t think they knew how much we were making fun of them.”
By 1969, when the band’s third album “A Divina Comédia ou Ando Meio Desiglado” was recorded, Brazil’s political situation had only further deteriorated. A governmental edict called as AI 5 (Institutional Act 5) resulted in the persecution of intellectuals, artists and activists, the closing of the congress and countless arrests. The crack down was the beginning of the end for the Tropicália movement. Giberto Gil and Caetano Veloso, close friends of the Mutantes and two of the leading forces of Tropicalia, were arrested and exiled. Despite this the Mutantes had their biggest hit with the song “Ando Meio Desiglado”. Propelled by a rocking Motown inspired bass line, the lyrics offered a forthright description of the effects of marijuana. On another song “Desculpe, Babe,” Sérgio’s voice was distorted through a rubber hose connected to a hot chocolate can with a tiny speaker inside, as he sung over melodic Beatlesque guitars.
While performing in Paris, the band recorded an album for Polydor UK. The record was intended to introduce the band to a broader western audience and featured many of their previously recorded songs sung in English. The masters from the session were subsequently lost and the album, “Technicolor,” wouldn’t resurface for nearly three decades. Singer Rita Lee soon left the band to pursue a solo career and eventually it was only leader Sérgio Dias, leading the band until they finally disbanded in 1978.
But in the band’s absence, Mutantes’ standing amongst the rock cognoscente only intensified. In 2000, the lost 1971 album “Technicolor” was located and released to a near euphoric critical response. In 2006 the band finally reunited and performed at London’s Barbican Arts Center. This was followed by triumphant shows throughout North America and the Mutantes being awarded the Brazilian equivalent of a Grammy for best band. “Playing live with this band is so amazing,” Dias says. “I can not describe anything better than maybe going into space. When we were playing at the Pitchfork Festival it was like looking at yourself when you were a kid trying to mumble the words to “I Wanna Hold Your Hand” in English and not understanding the words. There were hardly any Brazilians there but the kids were all singing our songs in Portuguese. It was really beautiful.”
So this acclaimed band who inspired so much now prepares to release Haih or Amortecedor, their first new album in over three decades. On it Sergio Dias has collaborated with two of the founders of Tropicalia, renowned songwriter and multi instrumentalist Tom Ze and Jorge Ben who wrote the band’s first hit Minha Menina. But don’t expect anything like nostalgia from Haih or Amortecedor. The end result is a record that brilliantly updates the band’s legendary “Tropicalia” sound, propelling it out of the sixties and into an uncharted but undeniably exotic future. As expected, the songs utilize a startling assortment of instrumentation, from austere violins to distorted metallic guitars and something called a crazy flute, lending an underlying theatrical power to their genre defying music. The song Bagdad Blues, with its tinkering old piano and seductive horns, conjures an otherworldly cabaret while Querida Querida is modern rock music unlike anything you’ve heard before.“It would be awful to mimic something we had done when we were teenagers,” Dias explains. “When we were making this album we were absolutely vigilant that the ideas were entirely fresh and I think we did a very good job. Everyone who has heard this album say it doesn’t sound like Mutantes - but then it is also pure Mutantes. I really think it is a perfect vision of what Os Mutantes should sound like in the 21st century.”
When the members of the legendary “Tropicália” band Os Mutantes took the stage before an audience of thousands at the Hollywood bowl a few years back, it seemed one of the greatest secrets in modern music was finally out. The seminal band whose ethereal absurdist pop music had inspired so many prominent musicians since their breakup decades before, were back. This time the world seemed ready. Now this influential band has reemerged with a brand new much anticipated album entitled Haih or Amortecedor on Anti-records.
Those who have not heard the music of Os Mutantes have undoubtedly experienced their influence. During the band’s absence, their records have been passed from musician to musician like cherished gifts, ever inspiring and altering the contemporary musical landscape. Kurt Cobain of Nirvana was tipped to the band by members of the band Red Kross. When Nirvana toured Brazil in 1993, Cobain tried desperately to arrange a meeting with Mutante bassist and singer Arnaldo Baptista. Unable to locate the musician he sent him the following note. “Arnaldo, best wishes to you, and be careful with the system. They swallow you up and spit you out like a maraschino cherry pit.”
The Mutantes’ cut-and-paste, sonic collage approach and their tendency for cultural irony, is an aesthetic now prevalent in modern music. The band has received praise from a growing list of luminaries including the Flaming Lips, David Byrne, Devendra Banhart and Of Montreal. But of any contemporary musician, it is Beck who appears their direct heir. For his part, Beck readily admits a longstanding admiration for the Mutantes, even dedicating his song “Tropicália” from the album Mutations to the band. As he explains, ''Hearing Os Mutantes for the first time was one of those revelatory moments you live for as a musician. When you find something that you have been wanting to hear for years but never thought existed. I made records like 'Odelay' because there was a certain sound and sensibility that I wanted to achieve, and it was eerie to find that they had already done it 30 years ago, in a totally shocking but beautiful and satisfying way. For years it was pretty much the only thing I listened to.”
This admiration by fellow artists is something Mutante founder and singer/guitarist, Sérgio Dias, appreciates. “I think it is really beautiful how our sound caught on with newer generations through the songs of Beck and others,” he explains. These kids were influenced by our music and started to talk to other kids and tell them. And then Beck made Mutations and he was so eloquent about that. I think it is a wonderful portrait of how things happen today.”
Mutantes’ unique otherworldly sound was forged in a time and place of turmoil. San Paulo Brazil of the early sixties was a city and nation under siege. The military had seized power and the authorities were coming down hard on anything resembling descent. It was amidst this precarious backdrop that, in 1964, two teenagers, Arnaldo Baptista and Rita Lee Jones met at a high school band contest. Inspired by a Revolver era Beatles, the two soon drafted Arnaldo’s brother Sergio and formed what would become Os Mutantes.
Soon the band, along with other forward-looking musicians, writers and artists, were taking part in lively discussions that would eventually evolve into a culturally defining movement. With elements of political criticism, prankster humor and an eclectic range of musical styles, Tropicália was born. “In Brazil we were influenced by things like the Beatles and Picasso,” Dias explains. “But we didn’t know what the Beatles were singing about and we didn’t know the history of Picasso. We were in the middle of a very bad situation and we were responding to all of this. We only had bits and pieces of everything and so we formed this image of what rock and roll was supposed to be. Our music is like a patchwork quilt made up of all these different pieces from different places. We put all these elements together and just let them cook in this witches brew and that became our sound.”
It was during Tropicália’s start that the Mutantes recorded their self-titled debut album. As students battled the police and military, the Mutantes recorded an ambitious album merging seductive Brazilian music with the new psychedelic pop of the Beatles and Beach Boys. The end result didn’t so much take a direct political stand as offer a complete aesthetic rejection of the harsh reality surrounding them.
The ruling generals soon regarded the Mutantes as musical emissaries of an emerging counter culture steeped in sex, drugs and rock ’n’ roll, and the group’s performances began to get raided. The Mutantes, for their part, seemed to delight in their role as cultural provocateurs: with Dias performing in a Napoleonic military uniform, his brother Baptista in a priest’s cassock and singer Rita Lee appearing in a bridal gown. “Many people were being arrested by the government at that time,” Dias explains. “So we fought back the only way that we knew. They would try to censor our lyrics. But instead of changing the words we would put all sorts of strange noises on top of them. I don’t think they knew how much we were making fun of them.”
By 1969, when the band’s third album “A Divina Comédia ou Ando Meio Desiglado” was recorded, Brazil’s political situation had only further deteriorated. A governmental edict called as AI 5 (Institutional Act 5) resulted in the persecution of intellectuals, artists and activists, the closing of the congress and countless arrests. The crack down was the beginning of the end for the Tropicália movement. Giberto Gil and Caetano Veloso, close friends of the Mutantes and two of the leading forces of Tropicalia, were arrested and exiled. Despite this the Mutantes had their biggest hit with the song “Ando Meio Desiglado”. Propelled by a rocking Motown inspired bass line, the lyrics offered a forthright description of the effects of marijuana. On another song “Desculpe, Babe,” Sérgio’s voice was distorted through a rubber hose connected to a hot chocolate can with a tiny speaker inside, as he sung over melodic Beatlesque guitars.
While performing in Paris, the band recorded an album for Polydor UK. The record was intended to introduce the band to a broader western audience and featured many of their previously recorded songs sung in English. The masters from the session were subsequently lost and the album, “Technicolor,” wouldn’t resurface for nearly three decades. Singer Rita Lee soon left the band to pursue a solo career and eventually it was only leader Sérgio Dias, leading the band until they finally disbanded in 1978.
But in the band’s absence, Mutantes’ standing amongst the rock cognoscente only intensified. In 2000, the lost 1971 album “Technicolor” was located and released to a near euphoric critical response. In 2006 the band finally reunited and performed at London’s Barbican Arts Center. This was followed by triumphant shows throughout North America and the Mutantes being awarded the Brazilian equivalent of a Grammy for best band. “Playing live with this band is so amazing,” Dias says. “I can not describe anything better than maybe going into space. When we were playing at the Pitchfork Festival it was like looking at yourself when you were a kid trying to mumble the words to “I Wanna Hold Your Hand” in English and not understanding the words. There were hardly any Brazilians there but the kids were all singing our songs in Portuguese. It was really beautiful.”
So this acclaimed band who inspired so much now prepares to release Haih or Amortecedor, their first new album in over three decades. On it Sergio Dias has collaborated with two of the founders of Tropicalia, renowned songwriter and multi instrumentalist Tom Ze and Jorge Ben who wrote the band’s first hit Minha Menina. But don’t expect anything like nostalgia from Haih or Amortecedor. The end result is a record that brilliantly updates the band’s legendary “Tropicalia” sound, propelling it out of the sixties and into an uncharted but undeniably exotic future. As expected, the songs utilize a startling assortment of instrumentation, from austere violins to distorted metallic guitars and something called a crazy flute, lending an underlying theatrical power to their genre defying music. The song Bagdad Blues, with its tinkering old piano and seductive horns, conjures an otherworldly cabaret while Querida Querida is modern rock music unlike anything you’ve heard before.“It would be awful to mimic something we had done when we were teenagers,” Dias explains. “When we were making this album we were absolutely vigilant that the ideas were entirely fresh and I think we did a very good job. Everyone who has heard this album say it doesn’t sound like Mutantes - but then it is also pure Mutantes. I really think it is a perfect vision of what Os Mutantes should sound like in the 21st century.”
MITCH ESPARZA
Mitch Esparza (a.k.a: ME) is a Mexican-American singer/guitarist based out of Philadelphia. His performances generally vary greatly in genre from song to song given his eclectic tastes and musical styles. He's Leader of local psych-rockers, The Love Club, and member of experimental noise-punk group, Humanshapes. All that said his approach is pretty consistently raw and full of deep seeded energy regardless of the outfit he’s in. This performance will be one of his more meditative non-stop explorations of collective consciousness.
DJ PSILOSYBIN
Carlos Bonilla, AKA “LOS-A-MATIC,” “PsiLOSybin,”or simply “LOS” has been a consistent dj in Philadelphia for well over a decade, with an ever-growing vinyl collection based in the love of psychedelic rock.
He currently co-hosts the longest running dj night at Johnny Brenda’s, “Cities on Flame” (focusing on 70’s to modern proto-metal and heavy rock) and the bi-annual “Tropical Voodoo” night (AfroRock, Brazilian Beats, Latin Roots, Psych Grooves, Cosmic Soul), to name a few, as well as crafting dj sets around acts like Nick Turner’s Hawkwind, Kikagaku Moyo at Kung Fu Necktie, Fuzz at Underground Arts and many other heavy and heady bands around town.
Atlantis the Lost Bar, in Kensington, has been his testing grounds for well over ten years. You can find him there every second Tuesday of the month spinning his variety of 60’s psychedelia, 90’s shoegaze, krautrock, and blues-rock and also collaborating with the Riff Mountain DJ collective. His music knowledge, with the vinyl to back it up, is far, wide and deep.
Not only is LOS an avid record collector, but also a graphic designer and artist. You will find his love of music history embedded in the fliers, album covers and other work he creates.
LOS is globetrotting through his records. He is the messenger, sending out uplifting vibes to initiate escapism for these hard times.
He currently co-hosts the longest running dj night at Johnny Brenda’s, “Cities on Flame” (focusing on 70’s to modern proto-metal and heavy rock) and the bi-annual “Tropical Voodoo” night (AfroRock, Brazilian Beats, Latin Roots, Psych Grooves, Cosmic Soul), to name a few, as well as crafting dj sets around acts like Nick Turner’s Hawkwind, Kikagaku Moyo at Kung Fu Necktie, Fuzz at Underground Arts and many other heavy and heady bands around town.
Atlantis the Lost Bar, in Kensington, has been his testing grounds for well over ten years. You can find him there every second Tuesday of the month spinning his variety of 60’s psychedelia, 90’s shoegaze, krautrock, and blues-rock and also collaborating with the Riff Mountain DJ collective. His music knowledge, with the vinyl to back it up, is far, wide and deep.
Not only is LOS an avid record collector, but also a graphic designer and artist. You will find his love of music history embedded in the fliers, album covers and other work he creates.
LOS is globetrotting through his records. He is the messenger, sending out uplifting vibes to initiate escapism for these hard times.
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